Dave Litman
GM Brad Treliving saved most of his work for the very last moments of Trade Deadline Day, getting his second deal done just under the 3 pm ET buzzer. Pending unrestricted free agent Scott Laughton is heading to the Los Angeles Kings.
As with the earlier Bobby McMann deal, the Leafs did not secure a first-round pick for Laughton (nor were they expected to). They’ll settle for a conditional third-rounder from the Kings. It becomes a second-round pick if L.A. make the playoffs this season. They currently sit three points out of the last Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
Treliving had to give up Toronto’s 2027 first-round pick plus prospect Nikita Grebenkin when he acquired Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers at last year’s deadline. It’s obviously a big net loss for Treliving. He turned a first-rounder and a decent prospect into a third-round pick (or a second, at best). A big L for Tree.
Laughton spent one calendar year with his hometown team and recorded 10 goals and 16 points in 63 games. Was that worth a downgrade in draft status for Toronto? Not so much.
What does Scott Laughton bring to LA Kings?
The dependable bottom-six forward does bring veteran leadership and secondary scoring (sometimes) to the Kings. He also posseses a high hockey IQ and a gritty, physical edge to his game.
It’s not exactly the kind of move many were expecting from the Kings at the deadline, as the team was desperately in need of goal scoring. Laughton will likely not be bringing them that.
The Kings lost two offensive players over the last few weeks. Kevin Fiala went down for the season with leg fractures suffered during a game with Switzerland during the Olympics. Andrei Kuzmenko was then lost for the foreseeable future after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus. That’s 32 goals lost from the Kings’ lineup. Again, that’s not coming from Laughton.
They made their big move, acquiring Artemi Panarin from the NY Rangers, last month. But that won’t be enough after the latest injuries to salvage a Kings offense that sits 29th in the NHL in goals per game.
As for the Leafs, their trade deadline final count looks like this:
OUT: Nic Roy, Bobby McMann, Scott Laughton
IN: 2027 (or ’28) first-rounder, 2027 second-rounder, 2026 fourth-rounder, 2026 fifth-rounder + conditional third-rounder
